SUPPLY CHAIN ARTICLES

• "Mirror, Mirror…": Reflections On Reducing mRNA Production COGS

  Here, I outline three overarching words of wisdom I gleaned from Life Edit Therapeutics’ April Sena; Tune Therapeutics’ Tyler Goodwin; and University of Sheffield’s Adi on how the mRNA/RNA industry can better control production costs — particularly as it relates to raw material sourcing and usage.  

• Moderna & The Global mRNA Supply Chain: Regulatory Lessons Learned

  One of the most important reminders I took away from Moderna’s experiences ushering its mRNA vaccine onto the global market is that a commercial manufacturing process must also be accompanied by a commercially ready supply chain. Though sufficient physical volumes of each raw material and a redundant supplier network are necessities, physical scale is not the only “CQA” for which we must account when commercializing our supply chain. 

• “Holy T7 Polymerase, Batman!”: R&D Considerations For More Awe-Inspiring xRNA

  It goes without saying we have some pretty ambitious therapeutic goals for linear mRNA and next-gen saRNA and circRNA. However, as my conversation with Koeris explored, we still have a lot of scientific and technical work/innovation ahead of us to make our RNA products “stronger” (in more ways than one).

• Addressing Challenges In Serialization For Complex Therapeutics

  The magnitude of serialization, especially for firms with extensive portfolios and intricate supply chains, poses serious challenges. This discussion offers solutions.

• The Cell-Free Revolution: Breaking The Plasmid DNA Bottleneck

  I was excited to be given the opportunity to sit down with Jodi Barrientos, CEO, Ribbon Bio, to learn more about the current state of the synthetic DNA space. In the following Q&A, Barrientos and I discuss some of the synthetic DNA industry’s biggest goals and the challenges that stand in the way of bringing synthetic plasmids more commonly into the mRNA development paradigm. 

• 5 Critical Regulatory Topics To Watch In The Oligo Sector

  Though our guidances have helped us achieve upwards of 20 commercially approved oligo products, as I listened to GSK’s director of CMC policy and advocacy, Katie Duncan, present at TIDES, it struck me just how far we have yet to come. Here, I single out a few of the biggest topics of regulatory discussion shaping the oligo therapeutics market.